Administrators at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism are reviewing whether students should continue to receive free access to the Adobe Creative Cloud. With the Creative Cloud, Annenberg students can download over 16 different Adobe softwares including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Illustrator. The announcement of the possible budget cut came just hours after Wallis Annenberg surprised the university with a $1o million donation to the Annenberg School.

Philanthropist Wallis Annenberg has made a $10 million gift to the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, @USCAnnenberg says

Professor of Communication Allison Trope confirmed the threat in an email to her ASCJ200 class that said, “Annenberg is potentially considering dropping the Creative Cloud as a perk for all majors and students enrolled in classes.” Trope and her co-professor, Judy Muller stated that it was partially a budgetary concern and partially an uncertainty of whether the programs are vital to Annenberg students’ education. TA Alexandra Garreton refuted this statement by saying that the Creative Cloud is now an “industry standard,” making it one of the most valuable tools for students to learn while still in school.

The Creative Cloud is currently offered to students through a collaboration between Adobe and the Annenberg School, which began back in 2013. Of the then-new partnership, Dean Ernest Wilson III stated that, “Offering students unlimited access to these tools, invaluable for developing skills for digital communication and collaboration, will give students a competitive edge in the classroom – and after they graduate.” What changed?

Annenberg’s Digital Lounge currently helps students navigate all things Adobe

Other Annenberg students have similar views on the possible change.

“The school has all this funding for Marshall to get all this cool shit and have so many events, but they can’t afford to give us one thing that helps us develop skills for our careers in communications and journalism? OK,” said sophomore communications major Leah Palacios.

Junior Katherine Rivas, also a communications major, said, “Where is our 60k a year tuition going if we have to defund Annenberg, the number one school for communication and journalism in America?”

Freshman journalism student Chris Cheshire even went so far as to say, “They might as well take my life blood. I’ll switch to SCA, I swear.”

Watch out, Annenberg. If you get rid of Creative Cloud, you may have a revolt on your hands.